Heavies Medal In Two Of Four Sprints Finals; Varsity Eight Takes Fourth

Princeton head coach Greg Hughes could feel good about both the present and future of the Tiger heavyweight rowing program after a positive day at Eastern Sprints. While the varsity eight held its seed and ended up one spot off the medal dock, the Tigers did earn both a gold and a silver medal and saw all three boats reach their respective finals.

"It was a solid day for the team," said fourth-year head coach Greg Hughes. "I was happy with the way they approached and attacked the day. We had big goals, and there is more we would have liked to have done, but the guys battled."

The varsity eight found itself short of a three-team showdown on the other side of Lake Quinsigamond in the grand final. Harvard reclaimed the Eastern/Ivy championship in 5:56.7, more than five seconds faster than reigning champion Brown. Northeastern, one of the upstart programs in the nation this season, took the bronze, while Princeton fought off Yale by less than one second for fourth.

Princeton battled hard in its morning heat to claim one of the top seeded lanes in the final, but their head-to-head showdown with Brown ended with the Bears winning by less than three seconds. While neither the heat nor the final ended in Princeton's favor, Hughes knows a lot can be gained from the experiences.

"We are working on learning how to race in this environment," he said. "The heat was tight the whole way. We're going in the right direction. It is rewarding to see the way they took this on, the way they tackled it."

The second varsity earned a silver medal in its final, holding off Harvard by less than one second. Brown bounced back from a loss in the season finale to win gold and hand the Tigers their first loss of the season.

"That was a good, hard race," Hughes said. "It was unfortunate that they didn't win, but I was really proud of them. That was our first undefeated boat in a long time here, and I only have positives to say about them. They are awesome teammates, and I'm glad they will get to race again at nationals."

The Princeton 3V finished fourth in its final, while the 4V earned a gold medal in 6:39.1, more than three seconds faster than Harvard.

Princeton will be back to work on Lake Carnegie this week, and then it will head to Sacramento for the 2013 IRA national championships, held May 31-June 2 on Lake Natoma.